FREDERICKTOWN — David Sheldon wanted his Colonel Crawford team, ranked No. 12 in Division VI, to be tested late in the season before the tournament begins.
The Eagles got all they could handle Tuesday night at Fredericktown suffering their second loss of the season to the undefeated Freddies 57-53 in overtime.
“That’s a very good basketball team that had everyone back from last year,” Sheldon said. “They’re athletic, they can shoot, they’re physical … hats off to them.”
A quick glance at the scorebook would tell you all you needed to know about how Fredericktown (20-0) won. Earning 23 free throw attempts, the Freddies knocked down 20 of them missing just one in the second quarter, one in the fourth, and one in overtime.
The Eagles, who shoot 52.3% from the line as a team, went just 3-of-12 with one make in the second, and two in the fourth.
“You gotta make free throws in close games,” Sheldon said. “And they had like 12 offensive rebounds, we didn’t turn it over when we went to our spread with the lead, we just forgot to make some free throws and that was disappointing … (but) I can’t fault our kids’ effort tonight.”
Junior Carson Rinehart was 8-of-9 from the charity stripe and finished with a game-high 22 points. Seniors Gavin Toombs, Blake Sipes, and Tanner Estep were each a perfect 2-for-2.
“If you saw some of our stat lines earlier, that wasn’t the case,” Fredericktown coach Derek Dibling said. “But the kids have bought in and we talked about how crucial that could be down the stretch.
“(And) this was a game these guys were excited about and obviously the community was excited about. From that point of view, (I told them) just go enjoy it — this is what makes high school sports special.”
It felt every bit like a title was on the line or the Eagles and Freddies were meeting deep in the postseason with a jam-packed gymnasium.
This is a tough environment to come down to and this is what you’re going to get in the tournament,” Sheldon said.
And Dibling felt his players fed off that energy in a game that, in the grand scheme of the season, had no bearing on any league titles or postseason seeding.
“I think it means a lot to them,” he said. “They’re a great team, they’re well-coached, they’re physical, and that’s a team that is going to go a long way in the postseason. On our home floor in front of that crowd, this means a lot to them and it means a lot for us in terms of confidence moving forward and getting us geared up for the postseason.”
Not only is the win over Colonel Crawford a confidence booster, defensively the Freddies held one of the best players in Division VI — Brayden Holt — to just 13 points, six of those coming in overtime with the game essentially out of reach.
“We were just trying to make him work,” Dibling said. “Carson was chasing and Tanner was sitting there ready to help, they’re our best two on-the-ball defenders. If they couldn’t do it, then that was it.”
And with Holt’s hands full, that opened opportunities for the Eagles’ wing players like Peyton Baker who finished with a team-high 15 points.
“They went to a 1-3 chaser on Brayden so he got open looks, and he buries five of them — that’s what he does,” Sheldon said. “He hit big threes all night for us and he’s going to get open looks because of the attention Brayden and Payne (DeGray) get.”
Payne (11 points) was matched up with the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Toombs all night which led to a constant battle inside. But because of Toombs’ ability to step out and hit from 3, John DeGray (11 points) would shift over onto the Freddies big man and kept him in check with just two made field goals.
“Toombs is a big boy, both of them are going to play college football,” Sheldon said referencing Payne. “John showed a lot of toughness and he did one heck of a job on Toombs who only has seven points — he made him work for them. The Rinehart kid played really well for them, he got some tough finishes in the paint over Payne and Brayden.”
Colonel Crawford (18-2) wraps up the regular season Friday night with a trip to Seneca East before hosting county rival Bucyrus a week later in a sectional championship.
“It’s just a learning lesson and these are the games you want late in the season before you get to tournament,” Sheldon said. “We’ll move on and get back to work tomorrow.”
zholden@gannett.com | 419-617-6018 | Twitter/X: @Zachary_Holden
This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Colonel Crawford boys foiled by free throw shooting at Fredericktown
Reporting by Zachary Holden, Mansfield News Journal / Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
